Game apparatus involving a game piece that is propelled under force by a player-manipulated tool have been developed in a wide array of applications. Such game apparatus may be exemplified in pinball-type games, as well as board games in which players attempt to score goals from opposite ends of the game playing region. Game pieces utilized in such apparatus may include, for example, balls, pucks, disks, and other three-dimensional objects that can be propelled by a tool manipulated by the game player.
Typically, the tool for propelling the game piece is a striker body which imparts a velocity to a game piece through a physical impact in which the striker device has been accelerated by the user to a desired velocity. In this manner, the momentum of the striker device, as a product of its mass and its velocity, may be transmitted to the game piece through a physical striking action, so as to develop a desired velocity in the game piece.
The physical impacts between the striker device and the game piece in conventional game apparatus can develop unwanted noise, and has the potential of causing injury to the players' fingers or other body parts in the event that they come in between the striker device and the game piece in the process of striking the game piece. Moreover, and particularly in the case of game apparatus which involves propelling a game piece toward an opponent's goal, a striker device-based propulsion system reveals the opponent's intentions for the velocity (speed and direction) of the game piece substantially prior to the actual striking of the game piece. In this way, the player can anticipate game piece movement through the observation of the opponent's movement of the striker device. Such anticipation limits the opponent's opportunity to score goals, which can also limit the enjoyment of the game.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a game apparatus involving the propulsion of a game piece, wherein the player propels the game piece without a striking impact force. Instead, propulsion is obtained merely through “squeezing” forces imparted upon the game piece by a game tool. Velocity and the timing of game piece propulsion may therefore be substantially concealed to make it more difficult for the opponent to anticipate the “shooting” characteristics of the game piece.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a game apparatus that is inexpensive to manufacture, and may be compactly packaged.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a packaging for a game apparatus which permits game play demonstration while the game apparatus is inside of the packaging.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a game apparatus tool that is capable of simultaneously catching and re-launching a game piece through a single manipulation of the tool.